The present invention relates to novel bullet constructions, and more specifically to a bullet divided by parting lines into a plurality of sections which separate upon impact with and entry into a target.
The prior art contains numerous examples of bullets which are designed to spread or expand upon impact. Such bullets include those known as mushrooming bullets, normally having a cavity or hollow area in the tip. Some bullets of this type are jacketed, such as those of U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,715,788 and 3,157,137, while other, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,685, are jacketless. Further examples of expanding bullets having variously configured cavities in the tip or nose to provide expansion upon impact are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,881,421 and 4,550,662 of the present inventor. Early examples of such bullets are found in U.K. Complete Specification No. 4,426 and U.K. Provisional Specification No. 14,717, both dating from 1899.
Mushrooming and other expanding bullets are intended to provide improved "stopping action," as compared to solid, non-expanding bullets. Although the bullet designs of the aforementioned patents exhibit various types of expanding action, they are intended to remain in monoblock form after impact with the target; that is, the bullet material does not separate into two or more individual pieces. The sole exception among the previously mentioned patents is one form of the bullet disclosed in Rousseau U.S. Pat. No. 1,715,788 which may, "when fired at high velocity and at close range into a soft target," disrupt and separate into two parts due to pressures developed in the central cavity extending axially into the nose of the bullet. The separation into two parts is also facilitated by "a weakened section extending circumferentially of the jacket at the point where the greatest expansion takes place." The two separated pieces, comprising front and rear sections of the bullet, apparently remain in axial alignment after separation.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a bullet having highly improved stopping power upon impact with a living target.
A further object is to provide a novel and improved bullet having high stability during flight, thus being capable of high accuracy, while at the same time having greater stopping power than comparable bullets of the hollow-nosed type.
Another object is to provide a bullet which is initially of monoblock form, and remains so during flight, but which separates into a plurality of individual parts or fragments upon impact with a fluidic target, thereby imparting greater damage to a living target.
Still another object is to provide a bullet which penetrates dry targets and remains in unitary or monoblock form, but which splits apart into a plurality of separate segments upon impact with a fluidic or lubricious target.
A still further object is to provide a bullet which, upon impact with a fluidic target, separates into a plurality of individual pieces which travel radially outwardly from the axis of impact within the target, thus providing superior "stopping" action.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.